New Face Of Serbia

The New Face of Serbia ( sr, Ново лице Србије, Novo lice Srbije, abbr. NLS) is a political party in Serbia. Miloš Parandilović has served as its president since its formation in September 2022.

Parandilović was previously a member of the Movement for the Restoration of the Kingdom of Serbia. Following Žika Gojković's decision to side with the ruling Serbian Progressive Party, Parandilović disassociated with Gojković and formed NLS. After the Belgrade school shooting and the Mladenovac and Smederevo shootings in May 2023, NLS was one of the organisers of the mass anti-government protests. In the 2023 parliamentary election, it was part of the Serbia Against Violence alliance and won 2 seats in the National Assembly of Serbia. NLS is a self-described centre-right, conservative, and monarchist party.

History

Background and formation

Miloš Parandilović was previously affiliated with the Movement for the Restoration of the Kingdom of Serbia (POKS), joining POKS once it split from the Serbian Renewal Movement in 2017. He was a candidate in the 2020 parliamentary election, however, POKS failed to cross the 3% electoral threshold. POKS had a leadership dispute, that began in December 2021, and Parandilović sided with Žika Gojković, who declined to leave the position of the president of POKS. Parandilović was later featured on a Dveri–POKS list in the 2022 parliamentary election and was successfully elected to the National Assembly of Serbia.

Following Gojković's decision to vote in favour of Vladimir Orlić, a member of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), becoming the president of the National Assembly of Serbia, Parandilović became critical of Gojković, ultimately leaving Gojković's faction of members of the National Assembly formerly affiliated with POKS.

Parandilović announced the formation of a new movement on 23 September 2022 and presented it inside the National Assembly on 26 September as New Face of Serbia (NLS). At the press conference on 26 September, he announced that NLS had members formerly affiliated with POKS, but also members of citizens' associations. Following the formation of NLS, POKS members of local boards in Jagodina, Valjevo, Ub, Lajkovac, and Bogatić defected to NLS.

2022–present

Following the Belgrade school shooting and the Mladenovac and Smederevo shootings in May 2023, NLS and Parandilović have taken part in the Serbia Against Violence protests. In June 2023, NLS formed a local board in Valjevo.

After Miroslav Aleksić left the People's Party and reconstituted the People's Movement of Serbia (NPS) in August 2023, Parandilović joined the four NPS members in the National Assembly to create a joint parliamentary group titled "People's Movement of Serbia–New Face of Serbia"; Parandilović became deputy chair of the parliamentary group. The group was expanded in September 2023, when three Ecological Uprising members, led by Aleksandar Jovanović Ćuta joined the parliamentary group, renaming it to "People's Movement of Serbia–Ecological Uprising–New Face of Serbia".

Parandilović participated at the signatory of the Agreement for Victory document in September 2023, which was signed by the organisers of the Serbia Against Violence protests. In the same month, association "Natives" merged into NLS. NLS became part of the Serbia Against Violence (SPN) coalition in October 2023, a coalition of political parties organising the 2023 protests. SPN announced that it would contest the parliamentary, Vojvodina provincial, and Belgrade City Assembly elections, all scheduled for 17 December 2023. In the parliamentary election, SPN won 65 seats, 2 of which went to NLS.

Ideology and platform

NLS serves in opposition to SNS. It is a self-described conservative and centre-right political party. Parandilović, a self-described monarchist, has declared that NLS would too support the restoration of the monarchy, but that it would also support youth rights. NLS members and Parandilović were present at a commemoration of youth members of the Chetnik Student Battalion who died in 1944 near Bijeljina. NLS has declared its support for Serbian farmers. NLS opposes the proposed Ohrid Agreement but it supports holding a referendum on the matter. Parandilović has criticised Russophilia present amongst right-wing parties in Serbia and has cited Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle as role models.

Organisation

Parandilović has led NLS since its formation in September 2022. NLS elected him as president on 12 November, alongside vice-president Ivan Matović. Its slogan is "Serbia deserves better". Its headquarters is at Bulevar despota Stefana 80 in Belgrade. NLS and the Reformist Party (RS) came to an agreement on 1 August 2023 to reconstitute RS as NLS in the registry of political parties, thus NLS skipped the collection of 10,000 signatures to become a registered political party. Aleksandar Višnjić, the president of RS, was announced as one of the vice-presidents of NLS. NLS held its first assembly on 12 November at which the party adopted its programme, statute, and slogan.

List of presidents

Electoral performance

Parliamentary elections

Provincial elections

Belgrade City Assembly elections

See also

Official website

References

{{Serbian political parties

2022 establishments in Serbia
Political parties in Serbia
Political parties established in 2022